Less money for new projects

There will be less money spent on new projects to raise oil production around the world.

There will be less money spent on new projects to raise oil production around the world.

The drop in crude prices is threatening investment needed to boost global oil production, Total SA Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie said today.

"Lots of smaller companies who are having problems raising funds can't invest,'' he told a stock market conference in Paris. There will be less money spent on new projects to raise oil production around the world, he said. Safety issues for oil workers in Iraq and Nigeria are also a barrier to raising output, he said. De Margerie dismissed as "false'' any suggestion that a project with Saudi Aramco for the Jubail refinery has been delayed or canceled.

Crude prices will rise in the long term

"We are in talks with contractors and we have told them they have to lower costs,'' he said.

In the long term, de Margerie said crude prices will rise, making investment worthwhile in projects such as the Shtokman field in Russia and Canadian oilsands.